Robinson Crucoe (plot)

Robinson Crusoe
Daniel Defoe
Plot Overview

Robinson Crusoe is an Englishman from the town of York in the seventeenth century,
the youngest son of a merchant of German origin. Encouraged by his father to study
law, Crusoe expresses his wish to go to sea instead. His family is against Crusoe
going out to sea, and his father explains that it is better to seek a modest, secure life
for oneself. Initially, Robinson is committed to obeying his father, but he eventually
succumbs to temptation and embarks on a ship bound for London with a friend. When
a storm causes the near deaths of Crusoe and his friend, the friend is dissuaded from
sea travel, but Crusoe still goes on to set himself up as merchant on a ship leaving
London. This trip is financially successful, and Crusoe plans another, leaving his early
profits in the care of a friendly widow. The second voyage does not prove as
fortunate: the ship is seized by Moorish pirates, and Crusoe is enslaved to a potentate
in the North African town of Sallee. While on a fishing expedition, he and a slave boy
break free and sail down the African coast. A kindly Portuguese captain picks them
up, buys the slave boy from Crusoe, and takes Crusoe to Brazil. In Brazil, Crusoe
establishes himself as a plantation owner and soon becomes successful. Eager for
slave labor and its economic advantages, he embarks on a slave-gathering expedition
to West Africa but ends up shipwrecked off of the coast of Trinidad.
Crusoe soon learns he is the sole survivor of the expedition and seeks shelter and food
for himself. He returns to the wreck's remains twelve times to salvage guns, powder,
food, and other items. Onshore, he finds goats he can graze for meat and builds
himself a shelter. He erects a cross that he inscribes with the date of his arrival,
September 1, 1659, and makes a notch every day in order never to lose track of time.
He also keeps a journal of his household activities, noting his attempts to make
candles, his lucky discovery of sprouting grain, and his construction of a cellar,
among other events. In June 1660, he falls ill and hallucinates that an angel visits,
warning him to repent. Drinking tobacco-steeped rum, Crusoe experiences a religious
illumination and realizes that God has delivered him from his earlier sins. After
recovering, Crusoe makes a survey of the area and discovers he is on an island. He finds a pleasant valley abounding in grapes, where he builds a shady retreat. Crusoe begins to feel more optimistic about being on the island, describing himself as its
“king.” He trains a pet parrot, takes a goat as a pet, and develops skills in basket
weaving, bread making, and pottery. He cuts down an enormous cedar tree and builds
a huge canoe from its trunk, but he discovers that he cannot move it to the sea. After
building a smaller boat, he rows around the island but nearly perishes when swept
away by a powerful current. Reaching shore, he hears his parrot calling his name and
is thankful for being saved once again. He spends several years in peace.
One day Crusoe is shocked to discover a man's footprint on the beach. He first
assumes the footprint is the devil's, then decides it must belong to one of the cannibals
said to live in the region. Terrified, he arms himself and remains on the lookout for
cannibals. He also builds an underground cellar in which to herd his goats at night and
devises a way to cook underground. One evening he hears gunshots, and the next day
he is able to see a ship wrecked on his coast. It is empty when he arrives on the scene
to investigate. Crusoe once again thanks Providence for having been saved. Soon
afterward, Crusoe discovers that the shore has been strewn with human carnage,
apparently the remains of a cannibal feast. He is alarmed and continues to be vigilant.
Later Crusoe catches sight of thirty cannibals heading for shore with their victims.
One of the victims is killed. Another one, waiting to be slaughtered, suddenly breaks
free and runs toward Crusoe's dwelling. Crusoe protects him, killing one of the
pursuers and injuring the other, whom the victim finally kills. Well-armed, Crusoe
defeats most of the cannibals onshore. The victim vows total submission to Crusoe in
gratitude for his liberation. Crusoe names him Friday, to commemorate the day on
which his life was saved, and takes him as his servant.
Finding Friday cheerful and intelligent, Crusoe teaches him some English words and
some elementary Christian concepts. Friday, in turn, explains that the cannibals are
divided into distinct nations and that they only eat their enemies. Friday also informs
Crusoe that the cannibals saved the men from the shipwreck Crusoe witnessed earlier,
and that those men, Spaniards, are living nearby. Friday expresses a longing to return
to his people, and Crusoe is upset at the prospect of losing Friday. Crusoe then
entertains the idea of making contact with the Spaniards, and Friday admits that he
would rather die than lose Crusoe. The two build a boat to visit the cannibals' land
together. Before they have a chance to leave, they are surprised by the arrival of
twenty-one cannibals in canoes. The cannibals are holding three victims, one of whom
is in European dress. Friday and Crusoe kill most of the cannibals and release the
European, a Spaniard. Friday is overjoyed to discover that another of the rescued
victims is his father. The four men return to Crusoe's dwelling for food and rest.
Crusoe prepares to welcome them into his community permanently. He sends Friday's
father and the Spaniard out in a canoe to explore the nearby land.
Eight days later, the sight of an approaching English ship alarms Friday. Crusoe is
suspicious. Friday and Crusoe watch as eleven men take three captives onshore in a
boat. Nine of the men explore the land, leaving two to guard the captives. Friday and
Crusoe overpower these men and release the captives, one of whom is the captain of
the ship, which has been taken in a mutiny. Shouting to the remaining mutineers from
different points, Friday and Crusoe confuse and tire the men by making them run
from place to place. Eventually they confront the mutineers, telling them that all may
escape with their lives except the ringleader. The men surrender. Crusoe and the
captain pretend that the island is an imperial territory and that the governor has spared
their lives in order to send them all to England to face justice. Keeping five men as
hostages, Crusoe sends the other men out to seize the ship. When the ship is brought
in, Crusoe nearly faints.
On December 19, 1686, Crusoe boards the ship to return to England. There, he finds
his family is deceased except for two sisters. His widow friend has kept Crusoe's
money safe, and after traveling to Lisbon, Crusoe learns from the Portuguese captain
that his plantations in Brazil have been highly profitable. He arranges to sell his
Brazilian lands. Wary of sea travel, Crusoe attempts to return to England by land but
is threatened by bad weather and wild animals in northern Spain. Finally arriving back
in England, Crusoe receives word that the sale of his plantations has been completed.
and that he has made a considerable fortune. After donating a portion to the widow
and his sisters, Crusoe is restless and considers returning to Brazil, but he is dissuaded
by the thought that he would have to become Catholic. He marries, and his wife dies.
Crusoe finally departs for the East Indies as a trader in 1694. He revisits his island,
finding that the Spaniards are governing it well and that it has become a prosperous
colony.
*************************************

By/OMAR AHMED MAHMOD